A safety study of thallium-containing ceramic superconductor material in rats.
Thallium is a highly toxic cumulative poison in humans and animals. The use of the metal as a component in ceramic superconductor material (CSM) raised concern about the health risk of CSM to children accidentally swallowing some of the CSM or to occupationally-exposed workers in the electronics industry. This study examined the biological availability of CSM by quantifying the thallium content in organs, blood and fecal matter of Sprague-Dawley rats after a single acute oral exposure to CSM and compares these values to similar thallium measurements from identical exposure to thallium sulfate. The CSM-exposed group had significantly less thallium than the thallium sulfate-exposed group in all tissues/fluids analyzed. This suggested that CSM poses a lower health risk to exposed persons than thallium sulfate.
Mulkey
J P
JP
Comparative Toxicology Laboratories, Kansas State University, Manhattan 66506-5606, USA.
Oehme
F W
FW
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D002516:Ceramics / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D004581:Electronics; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry*; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012378:Rodenticides / Q000633:toxicity; D012995:Solubility; D013793:Thallium / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*
D012378:Rodenticides; D013793:Thallium; C013707:thallium sulfate